Case Number 10564: Small Claims Court

Facing Darkness

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All Rise...

Judge Joel Pearce likes to keep his back to the darkness.

The Charge

Deep in the dark, your eyes will glow in light.

The Case

Before watching this Canadian documentary on cave diving, I knew almost
nothing about the world's most dangerous sport. I knew that it was different
than regular scuba diving, and that it's noted for being particularly dangerous.
Unfortunately, this documentary has done little for me. Facing Darkness
is too awkwardly assembled to be an effective introduction to cave diving, and
not long enough to be an in-depth exploration, either.

Like most documentaries, Facing Darkness is a blend of interview
footage and shots from on location. While the highlight of the documentary is
certainly the beautiful underwater cinematography, the focus is normally on the
divers themselves, as they discuss the history, terminology, experience, and
dangers of the sport. They are a pleasant group of people, but I often found
myself wishing they would stop talking and let me take in the beauty that they
get to experience under the water.

Alas, we rarely get any more than a peek at this unusual underwater world.
Facing Darkness focuses on the Florida springs, one of the most popular
destinations for cave divers. They also discuss the cave diving in Mexico, which
features the deepest caverns known to man. We only get to see footage from
Florida, though, as the divers explore spring-fed caverns similar to the ones
that provide the area with fresh drinking water.

The interviews are often interesting, and director Nathalie Lasselin has
found some very capable divers and trainers to discuss the sport. They focus on
danger and safety, since that is the most notable aspect of cave diving. In the
sport's short history, over 300 divers have carelessly gone to their deaths,
though the majority of those were in the 1970s and 1980s, before the diving
community realized they would have to follow a different set of rules in the
caverns. The rest of the interviews focus on rules, rules which must be followed
to keep cave diving relatively safe.

In a documentary that only runs 45 minutes long, this repetition of danger
and safety is the wrong focus. The chance of me ever actually cave diving is
very slim. I don't need to have an in-depth picture of what mistakes could kill
me. What I do want from Facing Darkness is a vicarious experience: I want
to see what it looks like to go cave diving, since I will never experience it
for myself. As I said earlier, we only ever get a fleeting glimpse of the real
experience, so the documentary fails on that fundamental level. To make matters
worse, Facing Darkness jumps from topic to topic with no real structure,
preventing it from becoming an engaging story about cave diving.

Facing Darkness may be more interesting for people who are interested
in taking the plunge, but have no idea what the sport entails. It does work as a
cautionary warning of the danger, but also as an assurance that cautious,
determined divers can proceed with cave diving in relative safety. For the rest
of us, it is a reminder that we would be better off getting into a less
rule-driven activity, like raising a Mogwai or starting up a Fight Club
franchise.

The DVD is also a bit of a disappointment. With recent filming technology
and an only 45 minute long film to cram onto the disc, I was hoping for a high
quality video transfer to show off the underwater cinematography. On a small
display, it does look good, but a number of transfer flaws are revealed on a
high quality display. Juttering, jagged diagonal lines, and blurring prevent the
underwater sequences from looking great. The sound, presented in 5.1, does
capture the voices of the subjects well, and push the music deep into the
background where it belongs.

There are a few extras on the disc. There is some additional manatee
footage, but no additional or uncut footage of cave diving, which I had hoped to
find. There are some profiles, both of the film crew and the divers that have
been interviewed. Beyond that, all we really get are trailers, some sample music
tracks, and some text information about cave diving.

Ultimately, I can't recommend Facing Darkness to many people. If you
know nothing about cave diving but think it might be for you, this would be a
relatively safe introduction. Still, it wouldn't be as good an introduction as
talking to some experts and guides, getting into the water yourself. If, like
me, you have no interest in cave diving, this documentary doesn't teach enough
or weave a compelling story to make it worth watching. It's a shame, too,
because Lasselin's cinematography is clearly world-class. It's just not used to
great effect here.

Facing Darkness is ordered to get out of the water before it gets
itself killed.